Storytellers January 27 2017, 0 Comments

The focus for our gallery shows for the 2017 year, which happens to be The Bay School’s 20th year of operation, is community. The relationships, stories and passions that we each have that are brought together to make our local community a vibrant and inspiring place to be. The “Storytellers” show is now on display in the Art Speaks Gallery, with work from eleven of our Teaching Artists. They have shared their journey both visually and with the written word.

As Kathleen Noffsinger, one of the artists on display, put it, “Come for the art, stay for the stories.”

Here are a few snippets from the stories of a few artists that will inspire you to come out and see what it’s all about:

“This envelope of negatives was intriguing because it was family, plus the compositions were interesting, as were the subjects. Although black and white images, I imagined the colors of the 40’s in the wall paper patterns, upholstery and clothing. I thought it would be fun to interpret these paintings, trying to reverse them just as computers were becoming a household item. The instructor of the painting class showed me how to scan and reverse the negatives on a computer. However, I enjoyed the challenge of using the negatives. All of this was to later influence my decision to work with black and white references for my color paintings.” –Adele Castillo

“My story will never end…it will continue in my art that is displayed in homes and galleries and handed down to future generations… and in my students’ work that is displayed in homes and galleries and handed down to their future generations and so on and so on.” –Kathleen Noffsinger

“I became fascinated with Persian miniatures, and particularly a tiny little angel (whose Persian name was Sorush) in the corner of one illustration. This resulted in 14 angels in colored pencils, cut out and placed on gold backgrounds with spacers to look as if they were floating over the paper. Eventually, I also did acrylic paintings of them.” –Linda Hollett-Bazouzi

“We finally settled in Hampton Va with our two children. This is where I found the art store down the road, “Pauls’ Arts & Crafts”. I wanted some paints and art supplies, so we managed to find a little money somehow and went shopping. I bought an easel, oil paints and supplies, some drawing pencils and books…I quickly found out that I do not like oil paints. The smell and mess was too much trouble, but I continued to draw and sketch.” –Virginia Coyle

Thank you to everyone who came out for the show this evening. We’ve received rave reviews and many have spoken about how the show has inspired them to share their own stories through their work. If you attended the show, we’d love to hear your thoughts both in the comments section and on Facebook.

Thank you for your support of the artists, their work and for your support of the Bay School as a whole. We truly appreciate each and every one of you!